Food Safety and Refrigerated Transportation

Food safety is a major concern not only during preparations, but especially while storing, transporting and distributing refrigerated or frozen food.

The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) was formed a decade ago by a group of retailers in Europe in order to create benchmarks for different food safety standards or schemes – all around the world – against the GFSI defined set of standards. These methods receive recognition as sound means for contributing to the safety of the global food supply chain.

In his article “Food Science – The Transportation of Food,” Robert James Hart writes, “In many ways, the transportation of food can be viewed as an extension of storage…A refrigerated [truck] is essentially a cold store on wheels.” Because of this, the same food safety considerations for storage must also be considered during transportation and distribution.

There are many potential opportunities for less than optimal refrigerated and frozen transportation, from proper storage, to a clean, temperature controlled staging area, to sealed door loading and unloading. Accountability is paramount, as is experience, training, technology and best of class facilities.

Hanson Logistics abides by GFSI through the BRC schema set of standards and has a proven track record in continuously improving food safety practices before they become law. We also ensure that our carriers are thoroughly qualified in food safety standards.

Contact us to learn more about our refrigerated and frozen food warehousing and distribution.

ABOUT HANSON LOGISTICS

Hanson Logistics provides end-to-end temperature-controlled distribution, transportation, warehousing and supply chain services, including multi-vendor consolidation services to the nation's major retailers. As one of the largest providers in the US, the company operates a growing refrigerated transportation fleet and 9 facilities in the central states, totaling 39 million cu. ft. with more than 200 Hanson teammates.